Avaya brings contact centres to Google Chromebooks

Networking supplier Avaya has deployed a dedicated version of its contact centre agent desktop for Google Chromebooks, intended to make contact centre operations simpler, more flexible and more cost-effective.

Avaya and Google said their collaboration would combine Avaya’s heritage in customer engagement technology with Google’s expertise in web applications.

Avaya Agent for Chrome will enable customer service agents and supervisors to be set up in any location, accessed through a Chromebook using a WebRTC-enabled interface, supporting seasonal peaks and business continuity and remote working strategies, the firms said. Customers will not need to download thick clients on individual endpoints, added Avaya.

In the UK market, Avaya Agent for Chrome and the Google Chrome Management Console will be sold separately at launch, although Avaya told Computer Weekly there were plans to offer a bundle option by mid-2015.

It also plans to integrate Google Apps for Work in a number of other areas in the coming months. Avaya said it had chosen to work on contact centres first because “we believe that the contact centre is at the heart of every customer engagement solution, and we’re known for customer engagement solutions that serve customers as they wish to be served".

“Chromebooks have been increasingly gaining traction in the enterprise as a result of the simplicity, manageability and low total cost of ownership they offer, along with a growing number of browser-based applications,” said an Avaya spokesperson

Note that Google buys telephony infrastructure and contact centre operations services from Avaya for use internally.

The collaboration forms one part of a major system refresh at Avaya dubbed Avaya Engagement Solutions.

These, said the supplier, are a range of technologies that connect locations and functions across the enterprise, integrate communications-enabled applications into workflows and support mobile strategies.

Besides Avaya Agent for Chrome, these include Avaya Social Responder, a cloud-based social media monitoring platform; Avaya Communicator, a single client interface that allows internal teams to access all communications channels across the business, including the latest version of its Aura conferencing system; and Avaya IP Office Select, a unified communications and collaboration platform aimed at businesses with under 2,500 seats.